Timer.



S. A. CAMPBELL.

Patented Feb. 4, 1919.

MM nrmmvsx UNITED; STATES PATENT OFFICE. a t.

ooLoMou-vt. oamrnnnn, or REV/Torr, irigs'sAcHUsnuu-s.

TIMER.

il'obfll whon'titmyconcerna "Be it known that I. Somno's .lptayeroimugs-a citizen of the United States a'nd' a (resident of Newton, in the county pfi'hfiddleawe-ar und :State of Massachusetts, have ini'etited'ccrtain new and useful Improvement s in inter-s, of which the'following is a'speciticution. e I I ihisfinvention is an 'huprovcd timer for loi 'internal combustion engines and is of a type fwherein a rotating contact comes into wipi i'n" yengagament with the sucoessive'contncts *o "an annular series. The invention resides Frinjarilyin the construction of this annulfl t iii-f series of contacts :The main ob'ect of my'iaeeation'ls tdccure a firm, e ective and comparatively frictionless engagement of the'rotatable contact with those of the -nhnu'larserics and at the same time avoid M'the 'use'-of'a"patliway, raceway, or uide -iholii'din insulation material which is liable to wear, isintegrate, or become pitted, so as ltoigi've an irregular movement to the center orflotating contact. A further object is to 26- 'providea series of contacts formed of simple stam ed metal parts, inexpcnsive to manumementos and quick to assemble, and 't aflilyj'jfremored and replaced in case of weaoprtnjurym the parts. A further oblo jeet ia to secure an abrupt break of the circuitund-with such arching as may be produoed in the timer, occurring where it will 37: do little-or no damalige and will not materially reduce the e riency or life of the n -am; j

*'-ln"earryin out my invention} may design various. orms or embodiments varying iri'iletails of construction, without depart- Iing'fro'm the spirit of my invention or the (tlsco' thereof as defined in the. appended time; In the accompanying drawings to ;-'whii:'h' reference is to he had I have shown may one embodiment which desire to 'he 'i'iinaidered -in anillustrative rather than in 46 'llttritiiig sense. 'Inthese'drawings: Figure 1 is an end view of a preferred Et-mbqdiment, the timer shaft being shown fin-"section. 'Fig. 2 15' a central longitudinal section throhgh the casing taken substantially on thline 22 of Fig. 1, the shaft and to lilting parts beingremoved.

Fig. 3 is a polfspefitivo view on an enlarged Specification of Letters Patent. T r i s Application filed July 10. 2918. Serial 110344.158.

smile of one of the series of contacts, and" Fig. 4 is a perspective view on an enlarged scale of a modified form of contacts ln thefforin illustrated, the timcr, has '.a easiug l0,o'f stamped or castmctahor any other suitable material and,subs tan tially 'i-1||1-shaped inlfor n. The casih includes. :1 4y indrical wall portion ll an an arnpor lcver*12 by means'of v.hich.the asing may he ostillateddo advance or retard the-spark.

Extending into the casing is the timer shaft 12! carrying the rotatable contact. I have illustrated a form similar-to that disclosed in the two patents of F. C. ,Hersee 1.203.560 and 1.264,933,"but do not nvish to be limited to this )articular construction as the details of it iorm no portion of my invention and other forms of rotary contact members might. be employed in my' ir nproved constlau'tion. As shown, the shaft 13 has a collar 13 to which is pivoted an arm 14 carrying a roller 15 on one end and a, projection 10 on the other end. intermediate of the roller nnd the pivotal support is a coil spring 17 normally tending to force the rolleroutwardly inn substantiallvradial direction. the extent of such for movement being limited b the engagement of the projection 16 with t to collar as is shown in thcdrawing. Other forms of rotatable contact members which have either no movemi-nt ratliaily of the shaft or a movement limited by means other than the easing or its contacts may be employed.

e casing carried contacts which form an important. feature of my invention include n pivoted plate. tongue, or shoe l8, presenting an approximately flat inner surface disposed approitimatcly tangentially to the path of movement of the. outer part of I have the rotatable.itontzu-t member l5.

Patented'Fb,'4, 11919;

shown thesef'eontact 18 as sheet metal tongues preyntingparallel cars 19 at one end hy'mca s'of which the t-ontact may be oonucctcd by afpivot pin 20- to a suitable base. This; base. is shown as a channelshaped strip of stamped metal 21, the side Ranges of which are received between the car's l9 and support the pivot pin 20. The baseliesmui ed to the shell of the timer in any suitablcmanner, a very simple, inexpensive, and etlioient way being by a screw 22, having its head disposed between the side flanges of the base and flattened or squared soast'dbeheld withthe end'of'the' base 21. and

the contact. Between this op'poei endand the bottomcf the base tioned'a-coil sp hold the of the engine. It'will of course be evident t agidnst rotation in respect to said base. The y of the screw extends through the base intermediateof the ends of the latter end/'throu d-by a nut timer-where 1 maybe he the timer be of conduct- 28. the wallof ingmaterizlfisuch as stamped or cast metal,

the-base screw are-insulated from the wall, as for instance, by means of an insulation ptate'il t and'collar. 25. The 'tifhtenmg as a nut 23' servesto hold all 0 these position. The end of thecontaot M anglestothebodoftheco het so asto forms-M326 or 1 1-:

limitv 4 e movement of the oppositeend of to or free and between the sidefflaflges of he latter, may be-posi- '27 normally-tending to o the contact to the limiting' position. in ardly toward the timer shaft andthe rotatable contacton the latter.. The terminal portion of the contact late 18 is bent outwardly so asto lie heyon the path of movement of'the center contact; to present an inclined sprface over whichthe cento: contact may ride in-case of reverse rotation in thetimer shaft; and to form a definite angle or ridge from which the center contact may leave the plate 18 with an abru 1; break n 1 the circuit;

e particular device illustrated is adapted to make and break the circuit four tunes during each revolution of the timer shaft, in other words, is adapted for a four 0 liiner a or any otherlnumber of cylinders the number and spa of the contact shoes will he correspondmgy changed. As will be under "35 ]uthat as the shaft and'itscontaet rota'tw, the roller 15 will engage with the inner free, surfaces of the several contact members 18, close the circuit therethrough, and in leaving them break the circuit again. The parts are so designed and adjusted that each contact plate '18 may swing outwardl to a slight extent as the roller e ges t erewith, the comparatively long Bill. are and slight angle preventing the pounding or' injury of the contact plates 18 as the roller enga with them. During this-engagement, t e roller may also be forced inward radially to a; sli ht extent althoughprcferably the main ial movement is that of the plateslB. Therefore the center contact may be! sic-connected to the timer shaft that it will have "in radial movethe peripheral wally be bent outwardly substantake and economy of manufacture.

ment. In the construction shown it will be -A'ny'-slig tpitting of the surfaces of, the

members 18'will not interfere with the free and even rolling of the contact 15 thereover although m of. this pitting, should any p ace, ill occur ad'acent to the free end of the member 18 an at or be end the portion of said member with w ich the roller has rolling en ments.

It w ll be evident t at various chan in the details of construction'of the series of contacts may he made within the scope' of my invention as defined in the appended claims. One such alternative form is ustrated in Fig. 4 which construction has certain advantages in its simplieigipf design this'form, the contact plate 18 with which the roller engages and the base'21 which is attached to the wall of the casing are integral, the relative movements of the parts being permitted by the resiliency of the material rather, than by a ivotal connection as in Fig. 3. The sto fdr limitingthe swinging of the contact p ate is produced by a tip or flange 26 on the free and rather than on the pivoted end of the contact plate. This stop 18 disposed between the body of the base plate 21' and an inturned flange 26" on the end of the latter. Due to the resiliency of the metal forming these parts the bow or bent portion 27 constitutes the spring for normally holding the contact plate in position and also constitutes the pivotal connection.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. A timer, having a casing, and a series of contacts secured thereto, each including a channel-shaped'base plate, a contact plate having side flanges at one end thereof pivotcd to the flanges of said base plate, a spring intermediate of the opposite end of said plate and said base, and 0. etc carried by said plate adjacent to the pivot or limiting the swinging movement of said plate- A timer includin a casing, a series of planteqiivotally secur to the inner surface thereof and cxtcndin circumferentially and spaced apart, means or limiting the inward swinging movement of said plates, a. t1mer shaft, a contact pivoted thereto to swing in a substantially radial direction, and means 1,aoa,sas B carried thereby for limiting its outward ment therewi to limit the swinging moveswingmg movement while opposite the ment of the inner plate, and a central eon spaces between successive plates. tact rotatable about the axis of said casm 3. A tuner, including a casing, a series of for engagement with said second mentione 5 contact plates pivotall secured to the inner plates in succession. 25

surface thereof, each p ate having a substan-' 5. A timer, including a casing, a series of tially flat straight contact surface, and havplates rigidly secured thereto but insulated ing the free end thereof bent outwardly at therefrom and presenting inwardly projectnn angle to such surface. l ing flanges, a series of contact plates extend- 10 4. A timer, including a casing, 11 series of ing lengthwise-of said first mentioned lates 30 sheet metal plates rigidly secured thereto and having outwardly extending anges but insulated therefrom and presenting inpivoted to said first mentioned flan 5, one ward] y projecting flanges at the opposite end of one plate being bent toward t e other side edges thereof, a series of sheet metal plate to form a stop, and a contaot rotatable 15 contact plates extending lengthwise of said about the axis of the casing for engagement 85 first mentioned plates and having outwardly with said series of contact plates. extending flan es at opposite side edges Signed at Boston, in the county of Sufthereof pivoted to said first mentioned folk and State of Massachusetts, this 2nd fla es, one plate of each pair having one day of July A. D. 1918. a

20 end fiient toward the other plate for engage OLOMON A. CAMPBELL. 

